SOME WONDERS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 



THK ANT-LION 



in all directions, when the long tongue is thrust among them, and they are gathered 

 in without number. The earth-hog has no tusks, its safety depending upon its 

 effective means of concealing itself. 

 One of the most destructive of) 

 flies known in Africa is the tsetse. 

 It is an extraordinary fact that 

 while its sting produces no per- 

 manent ill effects upon man or wild 

 beasts, it is sure death to horses 

 and horned cattle. Even the buf- 

 falo and zebra, closely allied as 

 they are to the horned cattle and 

 horses, are not harmed by the 

 bite. Fortunately, the tsetse is 

 confined to a distance of only two or three miles from the base of the mountains. 

 Were it otherwise, such a wagon train as mine would never dare venture into the 

 interior. Mr. Godkin's knowledge of the dreadful insect enabled him to avoid its 

 fatal haunts. In the fourth year which Gordon Gumming spent in hunting in 

 Africa, this insect killed all his draught oxen and most of his horses. 



There is another fly, with four long wings, which lays its egg on the surface of 

 the ground, or just below, in the loose, sandy soil, where the sun hatches it out, in 

 the form of a caterpillar. You would not think, from its appearance, that it was 

 calculated to catch its prey, for it has a slow pace, and can only move backward, 

 but it plays wild havoc among other insects, especially ants. 



This ant-lion, as it is called, begins operations by first tracing a circle in the sand, 

 intended to mark the boundary of its future home. Putting itself inside the circle, 

 it thrusts its rear portion into the sand, using one of its fore-legs as a shovel, and 

 places the load on its flat head and then flings it on the outside of the circle. Moving 

 backward, it keeps this up until it comes around to the point from which it started. 



A second and third circle are traced 

 and filled in the same manner, until it 

 arrives at the center. Then a second series 

 of circles, deeper and of less diameter, are 

 made, ending when the hole has the ap- 

 pearance of an inverted cone. 



To avoid fatigue, the insect, after com- 

 pleting one circle, turns around and moves 

 so that it uses the other fore-leg. It 

 snatches out any small stones that may be 

 in its way. If the stone is too heavy to be 

 got rid of in this summary fashion, it bal- 

 ances it on its back, and, carefully carrying 

 it to the toy of the boundary line, tumbles it over. If the stone is too large 



THE ANT-LION'S TRAF. 



